Hinata Wakaba (若葉 ひなた Wakaba Hinata) is a fighting game character from the Rival Schools series of 3D fighting games. She first appeared in Rival Schools: United By Fate, being the first student to tag along in Batsu's search for his missing mother.

Contents

Despite her size, Hinata is a smart girl who excels in almost all kinds of sports. Her proficiency in hand-to-hand fighting is said to be at par with those who compete at the national level. It is revealed that she received her training via correspondence course, but the identity of her trainer remains undisclosed up to this day. Being a very curious girl, she just can't keep still, and would often run around off campus after school. She can be sometimes be a bit of a smart-aleck because of her winning spirit; but other than that, she is a cheerful and lively person who lives the usual life of a modern schoolgirl.

Hinata has short brown hair with a white headband on her forehead and brown eyes. She wears a blue sleeveless shirt under a short sleeve white button shirt with a pink ribbon in the collar, blue skirt, white panties, white socks and white and yellow sneakers.

Before Batsu was transferred to Taiyo High, the school was somewhat a downtrodden place. She wanted her schoolmates to fight along with her, but nobody had the courage to do so. That is, until Batsu came into the picture, with a mission in mind--to find his missing mother. Although Batsu didn't want to have Hinata along, she still went with him, helping him out. Her efforts eventually paid off; news of her cooperation with Batsu inspired many students to take up martial arts, much to her surprise.

In Project Justice, Hinata again joins Batsu and Kyosuke Kagami in investigating the new threat to the schools. Her fate in the Taiyo High story varies; in one story she is kidnapped by Kurow and eventually saved by Pacific High School students, or leads Taiyo's investigation in Batsu's absence and is later saved by him when attacked by Kurow.

Hinata, when played correctly, can become quite a nuisance to her opponent. One of the keys for players is to remember that her back/down Heavy Kick is excellent as a Tardy Counter, and can lead to some high-damage air combos when used in the right instances. For instance, after blocking an opponent's projectile or slow-recovery special move, Hinata can use the Tardy Counter for great results. Using quick, poking Light Punches, followed by either a throw or a Fiery Dance Kick can also be quite troublesome. Players must always be ready to cut short a Textbook Combo and come out with a throw. This can keep an opponent on the wary side.

Hinata's Team-Up Technique is pretty quick, and it's a great move to get players out of jams while powering up her teammate with Burning Vigor. Once it is performed, there will lots of Burning Vigor available for the teammate to use in the fight.

Energy Focus Palm(Japanese: 気功掌底 Kikou Shoutei) - Hinata unleashes a short-range energy burst from her palm. Its Hard Punch version can be made to deal up to a maximum of five hits by repeatedly pressing the punch button. In Project Justice, her projectile becomes one hand instead of both making her combo damage into eight hits. Her one-hand projectile appears as a small version of Gouken's Go Hadoken.

Sunrise Punch (Japanese: 昇陽拳 Shouyouken) - Hinata does a jumping twirl roughly resembling Ken's Shoryuken and Sakura's Shouoken. Depending on the punch button pressed for this move's button combination, Hinata may or may not do a sidestep before executing this move. Good as an anti-air attack. In Project Justice her punch becomes a fiery tornado instead of being an uppercut that deals 2 hits.

Fiery Dance Kick (Japanese: 炎舞脚 Enbukyaku) - Hinata does three spin-kicks, and this has two versions, depending on the kick button pressed for this move's button combination. Both versions are also usable in the air.

Version One

An exact copy of Sakura's Shunpuukyaku, wherein Hinata does a helicopter kick.

Version Two

Hinata does three flying spin-kicks that set the opponent on fire for a brief moment.

Consecutive Kick Blast (Japanese: 連脚弾 Renkyakudan) - An air-only move. Hinata kicks her shoes 45 degrees downward. The weird thing here is that she is able to kick a third shoe, when she is wearing only two. Best used against opponents approaching from the ground by dashing.

Assured Victory Constant Punching (Japanese: 必勝連撃拳 Hisshou Rengekken) - This has a maximum range of approximately four steps. Hinata rushes forward, delivers a fast barrage of punches, and ends with a Sunrise Punch that briefly sets the opponent ablaze. While Hinata is approaching the opponent, she cannot be fazed by almost any attack, including Burning Vigor versions of projectile attacks, e.g. Hideo's Shimazu-ryuu Seihaken. Recommended as a Tardy Counter. In Project Justice since her Sunrise Punch has a minor change, the damage deals into 11 hits instead of 10 hits.

Spiralling Fiery Dance Kick (Japanese: 螺旋炎舞脚 Rasen Enbukyaku) - Powered version of the Fiery Dance Kick that roughly resembles a slow but fiery version of Ryu's Shinku Tatsumaki. Hinata does five, ascending forward spin kicks that briefly set the opponent ablaze. Best used either as an anti-air attack, or an Air Combo finisher. In Project Justice, this move has a minor change that roughly resembles Ken's Guren Enjinkyaku.

Hinata also appears, along with Natsu and Shoma, in UDON's Street Fighter Legends: Sakura comic.

Hinata, along with Batsu, appears in Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 as part of Kyosuke's Final Symphony Remix: after the opponent is launched, she hits them on the way down with a punch combo followed by an Enbukyaku, later joining the classmates for the final hit.

She lives with her parents and older sister Asaka, who is a college student. Where Asaka studies has never been disclosed to this day.

Talent-wise, Hinata loves to sing and dance.

She is good at Japanese language, physical education, and social studies; but fares poorly in calligraphy.

Hinata may be known for her national-level proficiency in martial arts, but her real skill is in origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

Hinata does not belong to any club in their school, but many people ask for her help in various clubs.

Hinata is close friends with Sakura Kasugano of Street Fighter fame, and Natsu Ayuhara. It is revealed that they were all friends since childhood. Although she knows Sakura's best friend Kei (pictured in the gallery below), Hinata doesn't know her as well as Sakura.

The kanji for her last name is sometimes misread as Wakabi. But during the production of the US version of United by Fate, her name was initially misread as Wakana. This error was corrected in Project Justice. The reason for the reading error is that the Kanji for her last name can be read either as Wakana or Wakaba; either is correct.